Design of an Experimental Workbench for Force Control Tests with Pneumatic Actuators

Abstract

The need of the use of mechatronic systems and manipulator robots performing tasks of precision and repetitiveness in the most diverse areas of industry, agriculture and services, require in some situations the contact between the manipulator and the environment, in the desired and programmed movements for the execution of robotized work. These situations, of contact of the mechanism and / or final effector with the environment, are characterized in a problem of force control. Pneumatic actuators are used for interaction between the robot and the environment, due to controllable stiffness. It is perceived that due to the compressibility of the air, it is more advantageous and safer in applications involving the risk of accidents and the need to limit the forces of interaction with the environment. The main objective of this paper is to show the design of an experimental workbench for position control and force control for pneumatic actuators. The used methodology is based on phases that can be named as Need Analysis, Conceptual Design, Preliminary Design, Detail Design, Prototype Construction, Test and Evaluation; and Final Documentation. The experimental prototype is being developed and tested at the Innovation Center for Automatic Machines and Servo Systems (NIMASS) in UNIJUÍ University (Brazil), which has adequate computational and experimental infrastructure for the construction of a bench of tests to verify and to validate the performance of the modeling and control of force on pneumatic actuators. It is concluded that the developed workbench can contribute to the study of the modeling and design of pneumatic systems applications in machines. Theoretical and experimental knowledge enhances the development of innovations and the transfer of technology to the productive sector.